Prince Willem-Alexander, left, Queen Beatrix and Princess Maxima of the Netherlands leave the royal palace on April 29 to attend a dinner before her abdication. / Getty Images

by Kim Hjelmgaard, USA TODAY

by Kim Hjelmgaard, USA TODAY

Holland got its first new king in over 100 years on Tuesday as Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands abdicated in favor of her son, Willem-Alexander.

After 33 years on the throne, Beatrix, 75, formally stood down from the throne at a brief ceremony at the Royal Palace in Amsterdam on Tuesday. Earlier this year she said that it was time for "a new generation" to reign.

During the ceremony, Beatrix signed a statement that read: 'I now withdraw from my office of Queen of the Netherlands, and the monarchy will now be transferred to my eldest son, Willem-Alexander."

King Willem-Alexander is 46. He is the first Dutch king since Willem III in 1890.

"I am happy and grateful to introduce to you your new king, Willem-Alexander," Beatrix later told a cheering crowd of thousands in Amsterdam's Dam Square, from the balcony of the Royal Palace.

The new king's popular Argentine-born wife became Queen Maxima and their eldest of three daughters, Catharina-Amalia, who attended the ceremony wearing a yellow dress, became Princess of Orange and first in line to the throne.

The generational change in the House of Orange-Nassau gave the Netherlands a moment of celebration, pageantry and brief respite as this trading nation of nearly 17 million struggles through a lengthy recession brought on by the European economic crisis.

"It's a special moment. I was a very small girl when Beatrix came to the throne so this is the first change in the monarchy I can really experience," said Els Nederstigt, 38, who got up at 5:30 a.m. to travel to Amsterdam and sat on a camping stool close to the Royal Palace wearing an orange cowboy hat and tiara.

"We were here when Willem-Alexander and Maxima got married and what you remember is that you were there - you forget how early you had to get up and how tired you were," said Nederstigt.